For more than a month and across Greece the students’ mobilization has been developing. A student’s movement that was the sequence of the student’s uprising in May-June. Every day in many university schools general assemblies are organized and all the more university schools decide for sitting in. The seized schools are more than 350 across the country. Every week mass rallies are organized in Athens and Thessaloniki and in other cities as well with thousands of people participating and demonstrating against the reform in education -privatization and abolishment of students’ and people’s rights and gains- attempted by the government through the reform of the article 16 of the constitution.
The article 16 of the constitution established the state’s commitment to provide public and free education to all. Its reform will allow the establishment of private universities and will change the function of the public ones in which the overwhelming majority of students is studying. In a few words, public universities due to the antagonism with the private ones and according to the free market criteria will adopt criteria of free enterprise in their function, that is they will impose tuition fees, payment for books etc, (everything that stands in other countries where all these are already happening). Therefore, education from the right of all people will become the privilege of the few, the ones that will have the economic ability to study.
The government has announced its intention, right after the constitutional reform, to put forth for voting in the parliament the new law regarding universities. It is the law that the students’ movement in May-June has opposed and prevented its voting.
The new law, in combination with the reform of article 16 intensifies studies and abolishes a number of rights that our people have struggled for them for decades.
The right to public free education (free books, providing of feeding and housing etc).
The right to work, because the new diploma will have no professional rights and the new employer will become prey in the hands of the employee.
The democratic rights, since they plan to abolish the university asylum (the police and the army cannot enter in the universities) and consequently the prohibition of every free political, trade unionist, social and cultural activity of students.
The student’s movement says No to this University without rights, the university for the few and privileged. They say No every day in their general assemblies and their rallies in the streets.
In the present phase of its development the movement is trying to escalate their struggle through their connection and coordination with the students in high schools, the teachers and the workers in general. Already there have been scheduled meetings, debates, and activities to this direction. Because it is about an issue that concerns the whole society and in order to reach the final victory is required an all people ceaseless struggle.
January 2007
